I'm new here, so I feel a little strange about starting a thread, but I have a burning question for all of you long-term Pearl Jam fans.

I've only been a fan for a few months. The S/T album brought me into the Pearl Jam community. Since "discovering" PJ, I've also discovered PJ fans. And since moving to Philadelphia, I feel like I've been living in a Pearl Jam fan community. You people are some of the most enthusiastic, knowledgeable fans I think that I have ever come across, and you've been aboard the PJ bus for years.

Here is what puzzles me: The PJ bus has taken a lot of unexpected twists and turns. No one could have anticipated the trail that led from TEN to NO CODE through the RIOT ACT pass then on to S/T. I've taken a flying leap off of the buses of other bands who didn't remake themselves anywhere near this radically.

By all the laws of the music industry, Pearl Jam should be playing the club circuit outside cities like Peoria? Instead they're traveling the world playing to sold-out arena crowds. What has kept so many of you aboard?

Please excuse the bus metaphor.

do you mind if i ask how old you are? and what bands busses did you jump off of?

You're from Philly.

Nice.

no, im from jersey, i just work here

Speaking for myself, I think that a lot of it has to do with the live shows. It's not just a concert. They're not just songs. If PJ played one setlist, they would be playing in clubs. But there's always some treat, whether a rarity or a preset or a guest musician... People say, "What the hell do you mean you saw them 10 times in '03?" Well, every show was totally different.

I think that the other half of the live experience for me, is the people I've met. Like you said, PJ fans are among the most diverse and yet still friendly group of people I've ever met. I look forward to touring season to see the smiling faces I've missed for 2 years.

Albums are albums and since PJ's songs especially are so open to interpritation, they hold different meanings and sentiments to everyone. I think the fact alone that they have perservered more than most early 90's groups, speaks to their character as a collective whole, and the integrity of their art.

Welcome aboard, The Jamily can never be too big!!!

debra

I remember a quote from Eddie years ago in concert during the height of the band's popularity. He thanked the crowd and said something along of the lines of "by all accounts this band should still really be playing clubs."

What's kept my attention as a fan is the fact that Stone Gossard's guitar riffs completely fit Eddie Vedder's vocals. Those two people alone have sustained my interest. I love what Mike, Jeff, and most of their drummers have contributed, but also the fact that each album will sound quite different and to me that's exciting. I can think of a couple arena bands out there that have claimed that every time they go into the studio, they try to write the exact same album to satisfy the fan base. I'm so glad these guys don't do that. If "Vs." had sounded like "Ten," and "Vitalogy" had sounded like "Vs." I would have stopped listening over a decade ago, despite how good Eddie's voice sounds up against a hard rockin' Les Paul. The variety of the live concert experience goes along with this, but I love albums, and a good band's willingness to experiment and change things up while still retaining the overall feel of a rock band, to me, is pretty important.

I like the bus. It smells vaguely of nachos.
Come for the chips and guac, stay for the band.

For me, it's the diversity of the albums. None of them sound remotely the same, which makes staying a fan fun and exciting. And as someone else mentioned, the live shows are great.

short & sweet frank,....you nailed it

welcome. great thread topic. for me- i've always loved what the band did. what really got me into them was the video for evenflow. and as much as i hate to admit this- i was actually "disappointed" in ten for the simple fact that the evenflow and alive videos are what got me to buy the tape- and i was HUGELY disappointed to hear different versions on the tape. then i found the "japanese import" that had the video versions of those songs, and that kind of got me into "imports". back in the day, you couldn't download shows or get them through b&p's and stuff like that- you had to pay $30 for a poorly recorded concert, but i still loved shopping around the local record stores for them. Pearl jam was the first band that i continued to pay overpriced prices for live recordings because those were the only means to obtaining "rarities" back then, and i thought that that was sooooo cool. (i was in high school back then and didn't have anything else to spend my money on) so, inevitably, when vs. came out- that album completely blew me away, and ever since then, the band could pretty much do no wrong, at least in my eyes. i've always considered them one of the most honest bands ever and i loved that fact that they quit "doing" mtv and interviews because i didn't want the band i loved to be "that" band. again- that was the mentality of an 18-19 year old. but since i've gotten older- i have REALLY come to appreciate and prefer their mellow tunes over the harder tunes i used to dream about moshing and stage diving to. give me immortality over spin the black circle everyday all day. enough rambling. post ended.

Not you, butt fucker.

live shows are amazing, totally amazing.

What the hell is the S/T album?

I've just never gotten bored of them.........can't explain it.......there's just something there. I can't say that about any other band/artist. 16 yrs and I love them as much as ever.

the wheels on the bus go round and round...

OK, so you want the gods honest truth???....

I got in to PJ back when i was in 6th grade because a a girl... my first "crush" i guess you could say....this girl let me borrow TEN. I had heard Alive on the radio at the time, but didnt pay much attention nor understand really the grand scheme of the music industry.

so this girl and I had a friendship for 3 years because of a band. we went our separate ways in life when we went to different high schools after 8th grade.(1995) (no idea where she is today).

During our friendship VS. came out and I was blown away when I heard Animal. Still am, fires me up like no other..... many of times it was played LOUD in many different locker rooms from my HS, College, Pro hockey career.

fast forward through the years.... Many things changed and came and went, lived and died, but the PJ was always there. It was how the music sounded to me, always new, different, It was the way the music, lyrics made me feel. different songs for different moods....


now @ 26 I have made many more friendships because of a band, been to many places i thought i'd never be because of a band, have memories i will cherish forever because of a band. I have had no voice, cried, smiled, got high, met many new people because of a band. I have had some of the best times of my life in a parking lot cooking up burgs and drinking beers, traveling the northeast and midwest in a van because of a band. things many people just cant understand because of a band.

PJ has evolved in to more than 'just a band' in my opinion but thats just me.

I could go on and on about how PJ has influenced my life in some way or another.......

i think it means self titled.

&& you never get sick of their music, because their catalogue is so diverse.

Wow, I think that you're inviting me to both embarass myself and become an obnoxious bore. This is a topic that I could go on about incessantly, but I'll try to restrain myself.

I grew up in a household that listened to a mixture of classical music, oriental pop (Na Men-Su anyone?) and the Beatles. The first record I bought all by myself was Led Zeppelin IV on the strength of hearing BLACK DOG once. Since then, I've loved a lot of artists, and I still listen to many, but not with anything like the intensity of Pearl Jam fans.

Some of the buses that I once enjoyed riding but have bailed out on are, Van Halen, Cheap Trick, Dave Mathews Band, U2, and Metallica. These are the artists whose new releases I no longer anticipate or even plan on buying, and I don't listen to their older stuff much anymore.

I'm really enjoying reading all of the comments. Thank-you so much for your input. Once again, please excuse the bus metaphor.

because pearl jam is love.